Cooking equipment



May 15, 1951 M. G. CLAY 2,552,621

COOKING EQUIPMENT Filed Oct. 17, 1946 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M. G. CLAYCOOKING EQUIPMENT May 15, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed OOC. 17, 1946Mari@ 6 C' Patented May A15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE COOKINGEQUIPMENT Murray G; Clay, River Forest, Ill.

Application October`17, 1946, Serial No. '703,849

(Cl. E39-404) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the culinary artmore particularly the art offrying comestibles in deep cooking fat; and it has to do more specicallywith a machine for cooking pronto pups.

A pronto pup is a skinless Weiner impaled on a wooden skewer, coatedwith an edible batter and fried in deep cooking fat.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a` machine whichwill facilitate the cooking of pronto pups on a continuous productionbasis and which will automatically regulate the cooking time--thusensuring that each pup will be cooked exactly right, while furtheraccomplishing the desirable end of delivering the finished pups atuniformly timed intervals.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of theabove-indicated character, means for quickly attaching and detaching thepronto pups to and from a conveyor which carries them in a continuoustrain through the hot cooking fat.

Still another object is to provide a machine of the above-stated typewherein the cooking fat` can be quickly heated to the required temperature and automatically maintained at that temperature.

An additional object is to provide a deep-frying apparatus for prontopups wherein the fatholding container can be tilted for the purpose ofdischarging the liquid fat therefrom.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent asthe detailed description progresses.

In the drawings (2 sheets) which accompany this speciication:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a machine constructed inaccordance with this invention and is representative of a preferredembodiment thereof;

Fig. 2 is a detail view taken at line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken at line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. ll is an edgewise View `of onev of the conveyor wheels;

Fig. 5 is a projection of Fig. Ll, showing one side of the conveyorwheel; and

Fig. 6 is a projection of Fig. 4, showing the other side of the conveyorwheel.

The machine illustrated comprises a frame I0 of box-like form, includinga sheet metal base plate II and sheet metal side walls I2 which arewelded to the base plate and also welded together at their adjoiningcorner edges. Each corner of the base plate is supported on a rubberfoot I3- which latter are secured to the base plate by screws I4.

A pot I5 made of sheet metal and having an arcuately curved bottom ishinged at I6 to frame I0 and supported rearwardly and at its two sideson the adjacent upper edges of side walls I2, as depicted at I'l in Fig.1 and at Ila, in Fig. 3. Said pot is designed to hold a quantity ofcooking fat and is provided with a pouring spout I3 and a handle i9opposite the spout for tilting the pot about its hinge I6 whereby toempty the same. Notches I2a in side wall I2 accommodate handle I3 whenpot l5 is in its normal position.

Mounted within frame I0 and below pot I5 is a gas burner 2li which isconnected by way of piping 2l and cut-off Valve 22 to a source ofsupply. Included in the piping ZI is a thermostatically controlled valve23 which is connected through a capillary 24 to a thermostat bulb 25-which latter projects into the interior of pot I5 and is secured to thewall thereof. The thermostatic valve 23 is provided with a manuallyadjustable dial 23 by means of which it can be set to cut off the gaswhenever the temperature Within the pot reaches a desired maximum value.Combustion takes place at 26 and the burner is relighted after eachextinction by means of a pilot flame at the open end of a small pilotsupply tube 21. The hot gases resulting from combustion occurring at 26are directed through an S-tube 23 which follows a zig-zag course throughpot I5 and thus presents an extensive heat transfer area to the liquidcooking fat therein. The lower end of tube 29 passes through the curvedwall of pot I5 and is brazed or otherwise appropriately sealed theretoat 33; and the upper end of said tube similarly passes through the wallof the: pct and is sealed to said wall at 3l. from Fig. l that theburing gas enters tube 231 at point 23 and that the products ofcombustion, are discharged from tube 2Q at 32 after a major part of theheat has been transferred to the cooking fat.

A shaft 33 disposed within pot l5 and located4 concentrically with thecurvature of the bottomplate thereof is supported at its twoextremities. on pivots 3e and 35, respectively, which.r in turn. aresupported by the side walls of the pot.

A small geared-head motor 36 is attached by means of a plate 3l to oneside wall of pot I5 and is equipped with a driving pulley 33 which isconnected through a spring belt 39 to a driven pulley lil affixed toshaft 33 by means of a setscrew A I. Motor 36 is geared down so thatpulley 3B is driven at the rate of one revolution per minute; and thedrive ratio between pulleys 38 and 40 is such that shaft 33 rotates at:the rate of one revolution in ve minutes, approximately.

It will be apparent.

Athrough the hot cooking fat.

lAlso attached to shaft 33 and rotatable therewith are two conveyorwheels 42 and 43-so called because they serve to convey the pronto pupsWheels 42 and 43 may be of identical construction, and one of them isshown in detail in Figs. 4 6. Each wheel comprises a hub 44 bored to ntshaft 33 and provided with a setscrew 45 for locking the Wheel to theshaft. Attached to one end of hub 44 by means of four capscrews 46 is anassembly comprising a metal disc 41, a spring spider 43r v and a washer49 which serves as a spacer between parts 47 and 48. its periphery toform a number of V-shapedV depressions or pockets Sli-eighteen suchVpockets being provided in this instance-Leach of which is adapted toreceive one end of a skewer 5| (see Fig. 4) forming a part of a prontopup. The

` spring spider 48 comprises a group o f radially projecting springfingers 52, corresponding numerically to the \.'shaped pockets 5U; andeach su'ch spring ringer is situated adjacent one of said` pockets insuch manner as to bear against the side of an inserted skewer and toco-operate with its associated pocket to grip the skewer and thus holdthe pronto pup in radially extended posture, as clearly depicted inFigs. 1 and 3. Each spring'fmger 52 is curved at its tip, as illustratedin Fig. 4', to facilitate insertion of skewers.

In operation, enough cooking fat i`splaced in pot |5`to ll the same to alevel corresponding approximately to the bottom of pouring spout I8.This is heated to a temperature of 325 F. and maintained at thattemperature by thermostatic control. When the fat has reachedv theprescribed temperature the gas is automatically cut oi by the thermostatand thereupon the operator starts motor 36, thus setting the conveyorwheels into rotation at the rate of about one revolution in fiveminutes. The machine is then ready to receive uncooked pronto pups.

The preparation or a pronto pup for application to a conveyor wheelconsists in impaling a ,Weiner on a skewer, end-to-end, dipping theWeiner into a batch of pronto pup batter. twisting the skewer and Weinerso as to'prevent the batter dribbling orf, andimm'ediately dipping thecoated weiner into hot fat in pot' E5, as indicated at 53 in Fig. l, soas to set the batter. The pronto pups thus prepared are attached, one ata time, to one or the other conveyor wheel;Y and as the wheels slowlyrevolve the pronto pups are immersed in the hot fat and kept immersedabout 31/2 minutes. When they emergev from the hot fat they arethoroughly cooked to a golden brown color and are ready to be eaten.

By heating the cooking fat through S-tube 29 instead of directing thegas name against` the bottom of the pot i5, I have avoided thepossibility of charring any residue of' fat' lying in the bottom of thepot when the latter is nearly empty.

Instead of the spring belt drive connecting motor 36 with shaft 33, Icould employ a'positiv'e4 drive such, for example, as a chain andsprocket drive; but a material advantage accrues from the use of aspring belt or other non-positive drive inthat the drive is enabled toslip in event of the pronto pups becoming jammed asa result ofaccumulated residue in the pot.

Disc 4l is crimped atY It will be self-evident that the machine can bebuilt to accommodate as many conveyor wheels as may be considereddesirable-which, of course, depends upon the demand for pronto pups ineach instance. Obviously, it is not necessary to use all the conveyorwheels simultaneously and. therefore, production can be regulated over awide range when several conveyor wheels are included in a machine.

It will be apparent that many modications may be made within the scopeand spirit of my invention, and I do not wish to be limited except asindicated by the terms of the appended claims. Y Y

What claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:V

1. Cooking equipment of the class described, comprising: a pot adaptedto contain a pool of cooking fat, means for maintaining the pool of fatwithina predetermined temperature range, a shaft mounted interior-ly ofsaid pot, means for slowly rotating said shaft, and a conveyor wheelmounted on and rotatable with said shaft, said wheel comprising a hub, adisc and a spring spider, said disc and spider being carried by said huband co-axia'l therewith, said disc having a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced pockets on` its peripheral portion, said spiderhaving a plurality of radially extending spring lingers each of which isdisposed opposite Yone of said pockets and operative conjointly with itsassociated pocket tov yieldably grip one end of a skewer and to hold theskewer so that it projects radially from the wheel.

2. In apparatus for cooking pronto pups, a pot adapted to contain a poolor cooking fat, means for heating the cooking fat therein, a shaftdisposed within said pot, means for slowly rotating saidvl shaft, and aplurality of conveyor Wheels mounted on said shaft in spaced relation,each of said wheels comprising a hub' secured to the shaft and anassembly secured to one end ofthe hub and consisting of a disc', aspring spider and a spacer interposed between said disc and spider, saiddisc and spider being disposed inr face--toi-'fac'erelationconcentrically' with "said shaft, saiddis'c having a plurality ofradially extending V`shaped peripheral indentations, each forming apocket adapted to receive theV free end of the skewer of a pronto pup,said spider having a plurality of radially extending spring fingers,each associated individually with one of said"v pockets andco-'operative therewith to grippingly engage the skewer. v

MURRAY G. CLAY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,599,805-Barsam' Sept. 14, '1926 1,706,491 Jenkins Mer. 26, 1929' 1,993,609vKennedy Mar. 5, 1935 2,053,568 Levin Sept. 8, 1936 2,222,314 Hersk INov. 19,1940 2,429,090 Burt-Wells' Oct. 14, 1947

